Means and method for making neckties



March 4, 1941. L. L. KING 2,233,784

MEANS AND METHOD FOR MAKING NECKTIES Filed Sept. 2, 1959 fNl/iNTOR L/LL/AN L. K/NG HA RR/S, K/achg F05 77s,? & HARE/5 F0 1? 77-15 FIRM Patented Mar. 4, 1941 MEANS AND METHOD FOR MAKING NECKTIES Lillian L. King, Beverly Hills, Calif. Application September 2, 1939, Serial No. 293,247

Claims.

My invention relatesto the fabricating of neckties and is directed both to an improved method of making neckties and to means for performing the method.

5 While the general object of my invention is to produce quality neckties efiiciently and expeditiously, the more special object of my invention is to produce such a necktie in a. manner within the skill of the inexpert to the end that first-grade ties may be made at home by persons of ordinary skill and experience.

Necktie material is cut on the bias, i. e., diagonally across the Weave, not only for the diagonal effect in many of the patterns of fabric used, but also and more important because a necktie of material cut diagonally and properly folded has the desired inherent tendency to hang fiat and true. If the tie material that is cut on the bias is not folded correctly, however, the bias of the Weave becomes a stumbling block for the unskilled, developing strains in the finished tie that twist and distort the tie from the desired configuration and disposition on the wearer. Such a tie does not hang correctly.

The usual procedures of folding necktie blanks by eye or by dots marked on the material lead to difficulties, because, as I have discovered, in the first place, the fold lines are not often accurately perceived; in the second place, if accurately perceived are not accurately followed; and, in the third place, because the handling of the material during the folding process develops strains and inaccuracies that are made permanent by the folding process itself to appear 35 promptly in the finished product.

, To provide a simple foolproof manufacturing procedure that may be readily mastered by the unskilled and yet that precludes inaccuracy and distortion in the finished necktie, I have the fol- 40 lowing more specific objects characterizing my invention: to hold the portion of the fabric that is to constitute the face of the finished tie immobile on a supporting surface during the folding of the tie blank, thereby avoiding handling or straining of the most important portion of the tie blank; to fold longitudinal marginal portions of the blank successively from opposite sides of the blank toward said immobile portion;

to provide guide'means on said supporting sur- 50. face to indicate accurately the required folds as well as the required sequence of the folds; to arrange such guide means to indicate the required successive configurations of the tie blank so that error arising at any stage of the folding process 55 becomes apparent immediately in some obvious discrepancy between the instant configuration of the tie blank and the configuration indicated by the guide means; and to provide for maintaining the material of the finished face of the tie under tension in alignment with the bias of 5 the fabric throughout the folding process, thereby favoring the avoidance of lateral or torsion strains.

Other objects of my invention relate to the physical means for carrying out the preferred practices contemplated. One of these objects is to provide simple and inexpensive equipment for guidance in the production of ties by the unskilled.

Another object is to provide a guide means for practicing my invention efhciently and expeditiously on any number of successive tie blanks.

A still further of these objects is to provide a single such guide means that may be employed without confusion for folding a tie blank in more than one manner and for folding tie blanks of different sizes.

Other objects and features of my invention will be apparent in the detailed description to follow, taken with the accompanying drawing.

In the drawing:

Fig. 1 is a plan view of a pattern to indicate how yard goods may be cut on the bias to provide a tie blank in one practice of my invention;

Fig. 2 is a plan view of a tie blank assembled from pieces that are cut as shown in Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is a plan view of a guide means employed in the preferred practice of my invention;

Fig. 4 is a plan view of the guide means of Fig. 3 with a tie blank thereon, the tie blank being shown at an intermediate stage of the folding process;

Fig. 5 is a view similar to Fig. 4 showing the tie on the guide means at the final stage of the folding procedure;

Fig. 6 is a cross-section of the necktie greatly enlarged taken as indicated by the line AA of Fig. 5. I

Fig. 7 is a View similar to Fig. 6 showing the folds in .a tie produced by a slight modification of the above procedure;

Fig. 8 is a plan view of a cutting pattern to indicate how material may be cut from yard goods to produce a smaller tie blank;

Fig. 9 is a plan view of the smaller tie blank assembled from pieces cut as indicated in Fig. 8;

Fig. 10 is a plan view of the smaller tie blank on the guide means of Fig. 3, the tie blank being shown at an early stage in the folding procedure; 65

plete ties from one yard of cloth 24" wide. It. will be noted that a diagonal line 2! divides the rectangle of the cutting pattern intotwo equal. halves from each of which is obtained a rela;

tively long piece of material 22 and a complementary relatively short piece of material 23, which pieces may be sewn together'tomake a Single necktie blank. A necktie blank 25 so at tained is shown in Fig. 2, .the blank having a transverse seam 26 at the juncture of the two pieces 22 and 23, and having its ends hemmed in the usual manner (not shown). y

In Fig. 3 I show a guide means generally designated 28 to be employed in thefabrication of the necktie, the guide means being useful for assembling the two pieces 22 and 23 to makethe blank 25 andbeing especially useful in subsequently folding the blank into the configuration of the finished necktie. Since the preferred form. of my. invention is embodied in. a pattern set to be sold in department stores at relatively low cost for guidance in thehome manufacture of ties, the guide means 28 may comprise a sheet of paper. In actual use after purchase the sheet of paper comprising the guide means 28 may be placed on a table for temporary service or may be permanently mounted on a relatively stiff backing, for example, as indicated in Fig. 3 a piece of heavy cardboard 29. In some practices of my invention the guide means may be mounted in this manner for sale to the trade or may comprise a relatively stiff sheet of suitable material suitably imprinted to serve my purpose.

The sheet comprising the guide means 28 has printed or otherwise marked thereon an outline 3i] conforming accurately to the "finished tie blank 25. To be sure that the two pieces 22 and 23 are properly sewn together to produce the desired configuration, the two pieces may be laid upon the guide means 25 to match the outline 30 in which disposition the two pieces will be caused by the outline to overlap at their jun'ctures by the exact marginal portions required for the seam 25. By using the outline 30 in this manner I insure that the blank is assembled accuratelyand will closely'conform to the outline.

Within the confines of the outline 30 are longitudinally disposed fold lines designated respectively by numerals ll, 2-2,' 3-3, 4-4; and

55, which numerals indicate to the operator the sequence in which the fold lines are to be considered in the folding of the blank 25 into the configuration of a finished necktie. Theffold. lines arepcontracted in relative spacing toward" the neck portion of the blank from both endsand preferably each of the fold lines is arcuate not only for the purpose of attaining a pleasingjcon figuration, but also because I have discovered,

that curving the fold lines in the manner indicatedin Fig. 3 tends to cause the finished tie to hang correctly.

Since the folds are made in the sequence [of the, numbers l| to 5-5, it'is apparent that the two fold lines 4 4 and 5 5 represent the? configuration of the finished tie. It is character-- istic of my invention that throughout the folding process the portion of the tie blank that is to constitute the face of the finished tie lies undisturbed against the surface of the guide means throughout the various stages of the folding procedure. Since it is desirable for the sake of accuracy in the folding process to keep the central portion of the tie blank immobile between the fold lines 44 and '5'-5, and since it is further desirable," as heretofore indicated/to maintain this central portion of the tie under longitudinal tension throughout the folding procedure, I an- "0110! the central portion of the tie in place at the beginning of the folding procedure and re- .lease it only after the tie is folded to its finished configuration. In other words, after the pieces 22 and 23 are sewn together to form the blank 25, the blank is placed face down on the guide means 28 and is centrally anchored thereto under longitudinal tension. The anchoring of the tie blank may be accomplished, for example, simply by inserting pins 32 through the material of the blank 25 into the guide means 28 and the backing 29 of the guide means, the pins being placed at the oppositeends of the tie blank within the area defined by lines 4-4 and 5"5 with the cloth underslight tension. sufiicient to resist any incidentalforces tending to move the cloth laterally relative to the guide means and should exceed thev tension ordinarily placed on the material of the tie by its own weight when the .tie is in use.

The initial fold is made'along the line l-l, the fold of the material being pressed down lightly with a heated iron. The disposition of the tie blank at this stageis shown in Fig. 4, the marginal portion of the blank that is folded over being designated 33. If the fold is accurately made, the tie blank after the initial foldlwill match the outline 30 as modified by the fold line i. Since the material lies against this intermediate outline, any discrepancy between the intermediate tie configuration and the intermediate outline becomes apparentto the oper-. ator at once to indicate the need of correcting the fold. If it is apparent upon inspection that,

the first fold is accurate, the operator proceeds to make the second fold as indicated by the line 2-2, a heated iron being applied along the fold. Again the guide means 28 affords a check on the accuracyof the fold since the .tie blank at the;

end of the/second fold should match another intermediate outline defined by fold lines -l.l and 'Z- Q. The subsequentyfolds along thelines 3-3,.

A-t, and 5--,5 are-made in the order given to result in the final configuration shown in Fig.5,

The tension should be the operator-being careful at each step to see that the instant configuration of the. tie blank after each foldconformsto the correspondingim termediate' outline defined .by the proper fold line. Thus the necktie in course-of the folding procedure is checked successively to'match-the following: initial outline 3|] prior to the first fold;

initial outline 30 as modified by line l' l'; the- If at the, end of thefolding procedure the final configuration of the tie conforms with the fold lines 44 and 5 -5, the pins 32 are removed to release the folded tie and the tie isfstitched in any suitable manner, usually by sewing together the overlappingfolds at the rearfsideof; Fig. 6 shows in'cross-section the final the tie.

folded disposition of the material in a tie produced as described above.

In a second practice of my invention the above procedure is followed except that the fold along the line l-l is omitted. In other words, after the tieis anchored to the guide means the initial fold is made along the line 22 and the subsequent folds are made along the lines 33, 4-4, and 55 in sequence. The disposition of the folds in the finished tie produced by this modified procedure is indicated in Fig. 7. The modified procedure may be regarded as preferable in that the resultant tie is more nearly uniform in thickness. It will be noted that no liner or filler material is necessary in either case.

In Fig. 8 I show a second cutting pattern 35 that may be used instead of the first cutting pattern 20 to produce a tie blank with less material. The arrangement of cutting lines in Fig. 8 produces material for two ties from-a piece of cloth 24" square. It will be noted that each of two halves of the square provides a relatively long piece of goods 36 for one end of the tie, a shorter piece 31 for the other end of the tie, and a still shorter piece 33 for an intermediate portion of the tie. The tie blank generally designated MI in Fig. 9 assembled from pieces 36, 31, and 38 is intended tomatch the outline on the guide means 28 that is defined by the fold lines ll and 2-2. In other words, in using the fold means 28 for fabricating a tie from the smaller blank 40, the operator disregards the marginal portions of the outline 30' lying outside of the fold lines l-| and 2-2. To avoid confusion in using the two sizes of blanks, the marginal portions 4| of the outline 30 lying outside the lines ll and 2-2 may be colored for contrast, as indicated by the cross-hatching in the various figures.

The pieces 36, 31. and 38 are preferably laid out on this inner outline for guidance in the matter of sewing them together to insure that the blank 40 is accurately assembled. The blank is then accurately matched with the inner outline and the central longitudinal portion of the blank is suitably anchored at each end by pins 32 as previously described. The tie blank is then folded in sequence along the lines 3-3. 44, and 5-5 to the final configuration shown in Fig. 11 defined by the fold lines 4-4 and 55. The tie produced by the blank 40, then,

. has the same configuration in plan as the tie I claim as my invention:

1. The method of making a necktie from a necktie blank that includes the steps of: placing the blank face down on a supporting surface having guide lines representing the successive folds to produce a finished necktie; temporarily attaching the blank to said supporting surface at the ends of the finished area of the blank; and while the blank is thus attached folding over and ironing successive longitudinal marginal portions of the blank along the successive fold lines visually indicated by said guide lines on the supporting surface.

2. The method of making a necktie from a necktie blank that includes the steps of: placing the blank face down on a supporting surface having guide lines rep-resenting the successive folds to produce a finished necktie; placing the blank under longitudinal tension over the central portion of the blank that is to constitute the face of the finished necktie; securing the ends of the blank to maintain said tension during subsequent folding steps; and folding longitudinal marginal portions of the blank from' opposite sides along said successive guide lines to give the blank successive configurations matching the successive outlines defined by said guide lines.

3. A set of paper patterns for making neckties, including: a paper cutting pattern outlining a tie blank; and a paper fold guide providing an outline matching said tie blank and further providing a plurality of longitudinal fold lines for the visual guidance of an operator in making the successive folds of a tie blank required for a finished necktie.

4. As a new article of manufacture means for guidance in the manufacture of neckties at home, said means comprising a flexible sheet having thereon the outline of a tie blank and a plurality of longitudinal lines within said outline for visual guidance of an operator, said lines being at the locations of successive folds required to produce a finished necktie, two of said lines defining the face of the finished necktie, said sheet being penetrable whereby a tie blank may be anchored on the sheet by pins through the sheet.

5. As a new article of manufacture means for guidance in the manufacture of neckties at home, said means comprising a sheet of paper having thereon the outline of a tie blank and a plurality of longitudinal lines within said outline for visual guidance of an operator, said lines indicating the successive folds necessary to produce a finished necktie, two of said lines defining the face of the finished necktie; and means to engage the opposite ends of the central portion of a necktie blank between said two lines to hold the central portion of the blank in tension while the blank is being folded.

LILLIAN L. KING. 

